Soft power such as culture and influence still go a long way. And last time I check, every 3rd world school still insist children to learn English, not Chinese.

In NY at least, we were required to take a language in jr high/high school: Spanish, Italian, or French. Are you implying that any country that speaks these languages is more influential and powerful than China, because some douche bag decided that these are the three languages I have to learn. 3rd world school children learn english, because the Chinese are smart enough to not waste their resources and time on useless allies, that do not help them in any way. The US does some ass backwards imperialism where we lose money for what........

Soft power such as culture and influence still go a long way. And last time I check, every 3rd world school still insist children to learn English, not Chinese.

People all over the world learn english as a 2nd language because english is the language of business. If you wanted to do business with someone in a different country then you would almost certainly need to conduct such business in english.

Military might does generally equal super power. The country could use their military to force changes on a country if they so desired.

China has a major demographic problem because of the one child policy. Soon, it will have too much old people, a lowering of its active population and growing problems, just like Japan and now Europe.

That is still better than country with exploding population with no ability to feed themselves and have to export the workers abroad to work as slaves.

I think this is a little extreme. I do agree that China'a one child policy is good to keep their population levels in line with their resources and ability to feed their people, but as it is now they do not have this problem nor would they have it with slightly higher population levels.

A larger population also allows them to exert influence over others as they simply engage in a lot of commerce

China has a major demographic problem because of the one child policy. Soon, it will have too much old people, a lowering of its active population and growing problems, just like Japan and now Europe.

Who knows what will happen 30 years from now? We could have immigration from other countries into China.

I would find this somewhat unlikely. The standard of living of people living in China is really not that great. They also are lacking many rights that 'free' people generally take for granted (freedom of the press, uncensored internet, ect)

China has a major demographic problem because of the one child policy. Soon, it will have too much old people, a lowering of its active population and growing problems, just like Japan and now Europe.

Who knows what will happen 30 years from now? We could have immigration from other countries into China.

I would find this somewhat unlikely. The standard of living of people living in China is really not that great. They also are lacking many rights that 'free' people generally take for granted (freedom of the press, uncensored internet, ect)

They did make a big jump from communism to pseudo-free market.So I guess change is possible.

China is slowly claiming some territories in our country and the U.N.can only do is to warn China. oh well its also a wake up call for our government to stop corruption and start using those money for improvement

it could happen, China is able to modify the electronic equipment, so it is able to make the same reproduction ability and function, so they are offering prices below the normal price is usually offered by the manufacturers of the products, with this capability then China could rival nations superpower like America and Germany ...not only in the economic field alone china able to compete, but also in the field of military and education ...hopefully other countries, especially developing countries can follow the example of China that can compete with the superpowers ...

it could happen, China is able to modify the electronic equipment, so it is able to make the same reproduction ability and function, so they are offering prices below the normal price is usually offered by the manufacturers of the products, with this capability then China could rival nations superpower like America and Germany ...not only in the economic field alone china able to compete, but also in the field of military and education ...hopefully other countries, especially developing countries can follow the example of China that can compete with the superpowers ...

China has a major demographic problem because of the one child policy. Soon, it will have too much old people, a lowering of its active population and growing problems, just like Japan and now Europe.

Who knows what will happen 30 years from now? We could have immigration from other countries into China.

I would find this somewhat unlikely. The standard of living of people living in China is really not that great. They also are lacking many rights that 'free' people generally take for granted (freedom of the press, uncensored internet, ect)

They did make a big jump from communism to pseudo-free market.So I guess change is possible.

I would say that China is still very far from being a free market. They have strict currency controls and keep their currency almost pegged to the dollar (They allow for small fluctuations on a daily basis). They also restrict the flow of ideas, information and speech. See the GFW and the recent blocking of bitcointalk.org from inside most of China

I am pretty sure that China is already a super power. They have the most foreign currency reserves in the world. They have one of the biggest economies in the world. They have nuclear weapons. They have a very large military and one of the strongest military's in the world. They hold a seat on the security council at the UN.

What more do they need for you to think they are a super power?

+1Agreed. I come from International relations (IR) field of study and we already know from years that China (PRC) is at least a "potential" Superpower. China is surely a Great Power due to his enourmous capabilities (economic, military, population, ecc.) and was also recognized by other world Powers as such. Index like the Composite Index of National Capability give also you a instant visual check on the situation. Giving ground to China "Second Superpower" status are also fact as the U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), the so-called Group of Two (G-2) by which the U.S. implicitly recognize China (PRC) as such.

China has a major demographic problem because of the one child policy. Soon, it will have too much old people, a lowering of its active population and growing problems, just like Japan and now Europe.

Who knows what will happen 30 years from now? We could have immigration from other countries into China.

I would find this somewhat unlikely. The standard of living of people living in China is really not that great. They also are lacking many rights that 'free' people generally take for granted (freedom of the press, uncensored internet, ect)

They did make a big jump from communism to pseudo-free market.So I guess change is possible.

I would say that China is still very far from being a free market. They have strict currency controls and keep their currency almost pegged to the dollar (They allow for small fluctuations on a daily basis). They also restrict the flow of ideas, information and speech. See the GFW and the recent blocking of bitcointalk.org from inside most of China

Soviet Union was a Superpower albeit it was not a free-market. Do you mean Soviet Union was not a Superpower and generation of IR scholars & pratictioners in Government Worldwide made a mistake recognizing the Soviet Union as such? Any totalitarian government (even if toying with freemarket) have strict currency controls & restrict the flow of ideas, information and speech. But not all totalitarian government may be Great Powers (or even Superpowers).

Super power doesn't mean military might and economic prowess alone. SSoft power such as culture and influence still go a long way. And last time I check, every 3rd world school still insist children to learn English, not Chinese.

So Japan is a Superpower for you? I may agree that some soft power could be useful and may need to be taken in account but hard power still count a lot in the IR field & among states themselves. Do you look at the recent crisis in Ukraine/Eastern Europe? EU soft power prevented Russia from invading Ukraine (first in Crimea, then in the east of the country) utilizing her Hard Power (military, economic) to accomplish her goals?European Union and its members have a lot of Soft Power but without Hard Power you end up on the wrong side of the history. Also Japan has a lot of Soft Power but isn't recognized by any world Power as a Superpower.

China is a super power. You know why? It's the largest world manufactory ever made! They have a billion people, atomic bomb and they can conquer the world! I don't know what thing exactly is making them stay calm.